The Exotic Teapot Blog

The world’s most expensive teas

Saturday, 21 October 2017

What could be better than a nice hot cup of tea? No matter what the situation, the problem or the issue, the British way of approaching a problem is to grab for the kettle. For the majority of us, the idea of a simple cup of tea is enough to satisfy, but there are those around the world who have much more expensive tastes when it comes to their favourite brew. Wondering just how expensive tea can be? Here are some of the world’s most costly teas.

Da-Hong PaoThought to be the rarest tea in the world, the tree that grows the Da-Hong Pao tea is few and far between. The ones that are around are to be found perched high up on the Wuyi Mountain, protected by armed guards on temple land. It is thought that this powerful tea is highly medicinal and in fact cured the mother of the Ming Dynasty emperor from her illness. During 2002 a wealthy tea-collector paid almost £22,500 for just 20g of the original form of this tea. It is valued as much as 30 times its weight in gold and a single gram of this Chinese Oolong tea is worth £1,359.

PG Tips DiamondPG Tips may not be a name that is instantly thought of as being an expensive beverage. However, during 2005 the British tea company decided to celebrate their 75th anniversary in style. They launched a range of hand-crafted tea bags, each of which were studded with 280 diamonds and filled with Silver Tips Imperial Tea. This tea is grown in the Makibari Estate and is the most expensive Darjeeling tea in the world. Sold for charity in Manchester, these diamond studded tea bags cost £12,000.

Panda Dung TeaNot every expensive cup of tea is one that you may want to sample for yourself. As the name suggests, Panda Dung Tea is one of these options. As the name suggests, one of the main ingredients of this particular type of tea is Panda poo. The pandas eat the wild bamboo and only absorb around 30% of the nutrients, it is this dung that is used to fertilise the tea crops and adds in the health boosting properties of the tea. For 500g of this tea you will be expected to pay as much as £28,000. Which means you should try your best to use this tea sparingly!

Vintage NarcissusA rare form of the popular Oolong tea, named after Narcissus which is a famous mythological figure. It is only fired once every two years and harvested from the Wuyi Mountains. It is oxidized to about 60% and has a floral, wooden and chocolate flavour. A flavour that improves with age. A kg of this tea costs £5,000.

So, have these teas whetted your appetite for a nice brew? Why not look at the teas we have in our range and see if you can find a lower cost, but also just as delicious brew?